Revision notes


A glimpse here into my novel revision process... I've been writing myself a lot of notes! Usually after getting out of the shower (where much of my inspiration comes to me) muttering "Must write that down! Must write that down!"

Having completed the first draft, the next stage is to go through and make sure include everything I want to include (descriptors, emotions, foreshadowing) and check the logic of the plot flow. That means working backwards a lot of the time - I know for sure that Egan has to have a gun in scene X, so where did it come from? Is it the same as the one he had in scene M? But didn't he have that knocked out of his hand? So either he must have picked it up again (alteration) or it's a different one he got in scene T (alteration), but in the latter case then he wasn't using it to threaten someone in scene O, and if I take out that threat then how do I draw attention to the drawer he got the gun out of which happens to contain something else important?
... and so on.

Checking your plot backward (A happens because B has happened because C happened etc) is one of the best writing tips I've heard. It shows up plot holes SOOOOO well.
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Published on April 05, 2017 15:30
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